Review: Teddy Bear of the Year

Title: Teddy Bear of the Year
Author: Vikki VanSickle, Sydney Hanson
Genre: Children’s, Picture Book
Publisher: Tundra Books
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: January 21, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

The teddy bears’ picnic gets a modern twist in this warm and fuzzy picture book about a young teddy bear who learns that small acts of kindness can make a big difference.

Ollie is a regular bear with a regular job. He listens to his girl’s stories about her days, he snuggles her to sleep and he is there waiting when she gets home from school. Just your typical teddy bear stuff. So when he is whisked away to the annual teddy bears’ picnic, he feels insignificant compared to the other bears who do daring and daunting things: sleepovers, hospital stays–even a night in the lost and found!

After small talk with a regional stuffing manager, a department of cuddling official and a stitchery inspector; a stop at the snack table; and even some team building activities, it’s time for the teddy bear service awards . . . and Ollie feels even more small and unimportant. But he soon learns that it’s not just the big things that matter, it’s the little things too.

While parents will love the tongue-in-cheek office-party details, kids and parents alike will fall in love with Ollie: a sweet bear who discovers that his love for his girl makes him very special indeed.

Review:

In this story, Ollie is Amena’s teddy bear. One night, he is invited to a teddy bear picnic by the Teddy Bear Association. Various awards were handed out to the teddy bears for accomplishments they had done throughout the year.

This was an adorable story. It’s so cute to imagine all the teddy bears of the world gathering to have a picnic together. The teddy bears also have the rule of ABCs: Always Be Cuddling.

This story made me smile throughout it. It is such a sweet story. I loved it!

Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

If I Had a Gryphon by Vikki VanSickle, Cale Atkinson

Have you read Teddy Bear of the Year? What did you think of it?

Top Ten Tuesday – Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it is now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf. Here’s my list:

1. The Egyptian Mirror by Michael Dedard

2. Stand on the Sky by Erin Bow

3. Rules for Being a Girl by Candace Bushnell, Katie Cotugno

4. Thorn by Intisar Khanani

5. Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen

6. To Have and to Hoax by Martha Waters

7. Influence by Sara Shepard, Lilia Buckingham

8. Half Life by Lillian Clark

9. Unravel the Dusk (The Blood of Stars #2) by Elizabeth Lim

10. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #1) by Holly Jackson

(All photos taken from Goodreads)

What’s your list of books on your Top Ten Tuesday?

Blog Tour Review: Tweet Cute

Title: Tweet Cute
Author: Emma Lord
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: January 21, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

A fresh, irresistible rom-com from debut author Emma Lord about the chances we take, the paths life can lead us on, and how love can be found in the opposite place you expected.

Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming ― mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account.

Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin’s shadow, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time.

All’s fair in love and cheese ― that is, until Pepper and Jack’s spat turns into a viral Twitter war. Little do they know, while they’re publicly duking it out with snarky memes and retweet battles, they’re also falling for each other in real life ― on an anonymous chat app Jack built.

As their relationship deepens and their online shenanigans escalate ― people on the internet are shipping them?? ― their battle gets more and more personal, until even these two rivals can’t ignore they were destined for the most unexpected, awkward, all-the-feels romance that neither of them expected.

Review:

This book is a great twist on a Romeo and Juliet style of story.

Pepper and Jack are the children of rival sandwich company owners, though they don’t know it at first. They go to the same school and they tweet from their family’s company’s Twitter accounts. They start a Twitter war, that their families encourage rather than stop. At the same time, Pepper and Jack are also communicating on a secret app which hides their identities. There were many layers to their relationship, from Twitter to their chatting app, and even to their relationship in real life.

This story was a lot of fun. It kept making me hungry because of all the food that was described. There were lots of sandwiches, but there were also desserts because Pepper and her sister have a baking blog. They made delicious sounding desserts, such as Monster Cake, which is made of every sweet food you can imagine.

I really enjoyed this story! I recommend having some sweet treats nearby when you read it!

Thank you Wednesday Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

A Love Hate Thing by Whitney D. Grandison

Every Other Weekend by Abigail Johnson

About the Author:

Emma Lord is a digital media editor and writer living in New York City, where she spends whatever time she isn’t writing either running or belting show tunes in community theater. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a major in psychology and a minor in how to tilt your computer screen so nobody will notice you updating your fan fiction from the back row. She was raised on glitter, grilled cheese, and a whole lot of love. Her sun sign is Hufflepuff, but she is a Gryffindor rising. TWEET CUTE is her debut novel. You can find her geeking out online at @dilemmalord on Twitter.

Have you read Tweet Cute? What did you think of it?

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? – January 20

This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!

What I just finished:

This weekend I finished Tweet Cute by Emma Lord.

What I’m currently reading:

I’m currently reading Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars #1) by Elizabeth Lim.

What I’m reading next:

Next I will be reading Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown.

What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?

Author Event: Lisa Jewell in Kitchener, Ontario

A couple of weeks ago, my mom and I went to see Lisa Jewell at the Kitchener Public Library. It was a great event!

She talked about her writing style. She doesn’t plan out the books before she writes them, which is amazing considering how great her thrillers are. She keeps the information in her head, and references it from her memory. As a writer, I can’t imagine how difficult that must be, but she is so good at writing!

After the interview, we had our books signed by Lisa. She was so kind. She knew my mom and I were related as soon as she saw us. We are both fans of her novels!

This was a great event in the 85 Queen series by Kitchener Public Library!

You can find my review to Lisa Jewell’s latest book The Family Upstairs here.

Thanks so much to everyone who put on this event!

Jill’s Weekly Wrap-Up – January 19

Here are my reviews for the week with my ratings:

I did 8 weekly blogging memes:

How was your week? What did you guys read?

Sundays in Bed With… Tweet Cute

The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.

This Sunday I’m reading Tweet Cute by Emma Lord.

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Goodreads Synopsis:

A fresh, irresistible rom-com from debut author Emma Lord about the chances we take, the paths life can lead us on, and how love can be found in the opposite place you expected.

Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming ― mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account.

Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin’s shadow, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time.

All’s fair in love and cheese ― that is, until Pepper and Jack’s spat turns into a viral Twitter war. Little do they know, while they’re publicly duking it out with snarky memes and retweet battles, they’re also falling for each other in real life ― on an anonymous chat app Jack built.

As their relationship deepens and their online shenanigans escalate ― people on the internet are shipping them?? ― their battle gets more and more personal, until even these two rivals can’t ignore they were destined for the most unexpected, awkward, all-the-feels romance that neither of them expected. 

What book are you in bed with today?

Six for Sunday – Books People Associate With Me

This meme is hosted by Steph at A little but a lot. The weekly prompts for 2019 can be found here.

This week’s prompt is Books People Associate With You. Here’s my list:

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J.K. Rowling

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

3. Jillian Jiggs by Phoebe Gilman

4. Nancy Drew Files, Vol. 1 by Carolyn Keene

5. Shadowland (The Mediator #1) by Meg Cabot

6. Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

(All book cover images from Goodreads)

Did you write a #SixforSunday post? What was your list of Books People Associate With You?

Review: Echoes Between Us

Title: Echoes Between Us
Author: Katie McGarry
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
Publisher: Tor Teen
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: January 14, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Echoes Between Us is bestselling author Katie McGarry’s breakout teen contemporary novel about a girl with everything to lose and the boy who will do anything to save her.

Veronica sees ghosts. More specifically, her mother’s ghost. The afterimages of blinding migraines caused by the brain tumor that keeps her on the fringes and consumes her whole life haunt her, even as she wonders if it’s something more…

Golden boy Sawyer is handsome and popular, a state champion swimmer, but his adrenaline addiction draws him to Veronica.

A girl with nothing to live for and a boy with everything to lose–can they conquer their demons together?

Review:

This is a great paranormal story.

Veronica has a brain tumor. Her mother died of brain cancer, and Veronica’s tumor is getting worse, but she wants to keep it a secret. This is more complicated because she also sees her mother’s ghost in her house. That makes her want to research ghosts for a paper at school. When Sawyer, the popular boy at school, moves into the apartment in her house, she has her suspicions of her haunted house confirmed because his sister also sees the “monsters” downstairs.

I loved the paranormal, ghost hunting aspects of the story. They were creepy. I found myself holding my breath in many parts. Those parts were very descriptive and realistic.

The paranormal parts were slightly fantasy, but there were also serious issues addressed in this book. Veronica has a brain tumor, which she is in denial of. There are also some characters with addictions. These health problems were also scary because they were very realistic.

I really enjoyed this story!

Thank you Tor Teen for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #1) by Michelle Hodkin

Say You’ll Remember Me by Katie McGarry

Have you read Echoes Between Us? What did you think of it?

Stacking the Shelves – January 18

This is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

I received a book from Pajama Press:

The Egyptian Mirror by Michael Bedard

I was approved for two books on NetGalley from Arcturus Publishing:

Twisted Fairy Tales: The Ninjabread Man by Stewart Ross

Twisted Fairy Tales: Snow White and the Seven Robots by Stewart Ross

I was approved for a book on NetGalley from Blackstone Publishing:

Iphigenia Murphy by Sara Hosey

I was approved for a book on NetGalley from Simon and Schuster Canada:

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

I was approved for a book on NetGalley from Abrams Kids:

Once Upon an Eid: Stories of Hope and Joy by 15 Muslim Voices edited by S.K. Ali and Aisha Saeed

I was approved for two books on NetGalley from Quarto Publishing Group:

Work it, Girl: Become a Leader Like Michelle Obama by Caroline Moss, Sinem Erkas

Vivienne Westwood: My First Vivienne Westwood by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara

Thank you Pajama Press, Arcturus Publishing, Blackstone Publishing, Simon and Schuster Canada, Abrams Kids, and Quarto Publishing Group for this book!

What books did you get this week?